Monitoring Your Teen’s Facebook May Not Be Cool, But it Sure is Necessary

Facebook has hijacked our lives to the extent that we feel incomplete without it. An increase in its popularity has also increased the risk associated with it, especially to kids, such as identity theft, cyberbullying, cyberstalking, online harassment, and profanity. This is why the use of monitoring apps like SecureTeen is strongly recommended to make sure your kids stay safe on the popular social media platform. Unfortunately, this is not always as easy as it seems. The biggest challenge is to convince the kids to let you monitor their Facebook account. Let’s discuss the situation from both kids’ and parents’ perspective, and eventually try to find a middle ground.

Kids Show Resistance to Facebook Monitoring

Kids do not like the idea of getting monitored on Facebook or any other social media account as they consider it a violation of their privacy. They expect their parents to respect their privacy, give them the space they deserve and trust them. Kids behave differently on Facebook as compared to how they behave in their real life. They do not want their parents to know this side of their personality. They do not feel comfortable sharing their Timeline, posts, comments, tags and other online activities with their parents, not because they have been up to something wrong, but because they fear that their parents won’t like the way they interact with others on Facebook.

Monitoring Facebook is the Need of the Hour

Your kids may not approve of the idea of you keeping an eye on how they are using Facebook, but being a responsible parent, you need to understand that it is not an option but a necessity. Facebook is much more than a social network for staying connected. It has become a battlefield where kids bully, harass, exploit and tease each other. Its large user-base has also made it a paradise for online predators, who mostly entrap and manipulate their victims by hiding behind alluring profiles. Monitoring the Facebook activities of kids lets you keep them safe from cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and all other crimes that take place in cyberspace. In addition, it makes sure your kids do not spend more than the allocated time on Facebook so that it can’t affect their studies and social life. Facebook may inappropriate images and abusive language, which obviously is not good for kids. This is why you must keep an eye on their account activities. Various studies have linked Facebook to depression, anxiety and suicide among youngsters, which is yet another strong reason you must keep yourself updated on what your kids do on Facebook.

Finding the Middle Way

Most parents monitor Facebook activities of their kids without seeking their consent or even informing them. While the former cannot be helped at times, doing the latter is simply unacceptable. If you do not want to attract the anger of kids but you are still worried about their online safety, then you must talk to them up front. They may not agree with the whole idea of monitoring in the start, but you should try to make them understand that you love them and only want to help them stay safe online. Share your insecurities and concerns related to online safety in order to make them realize the severity of the situation.